Ken Wayne Movies
This is an adaptation of a popular, violent Marvel Comics series about a character who's a frontier-style vigilante in modern-day urban America. Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, once a crusading police officer whose family was murdered by a car bomb planted by the Mob. Believed to be killed in the explosion, Castle has gone underground, building a subterranean lair in the sewer system and vengefully assassinating various criminals, wracking up an impressive body count of 125 slain in five years. Castle's former partner, Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett, Jr.) rightly suspects that he knows the true identity of the motorcycle-riding avenger dubbed "the Punisher." Meanwhile, Castle's bloody campaign has had the intended effect of weakening organized crime, creating an opportunity to consolidate power for the ambitious Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbe), the man responsible for the Castle family hit. Sensing an opportunity to muscle in on new lucrative turf, foreign competitors threaten Franco's empire. When the Japanese yakuza has the crime boss' innocent son kidnapped, Castle finds himself in the ironic position of helping a man he'd like to kill. Filmed in Australia, this low-budget action thriller did not get a theatrical release in the U.S., instead going directly to video. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1985
- R
Based on a true story about the execution of a psychopathic American G.I. by the U.S. Army in 1942, this wartime drama opens in Melbourne, Australia. U.S. forces and the Australians are at loggerheads, and this antagonism reaches a flash point when Edward J. Leonski (Reb Brown) is spotted running away from the scene of a brutal murder. That action sparks a gun battle between American and Aussie soldiers at a train station that makes it seem as if the two nations are at war with each other. U.S. Major Patrick Dannenberg (James Coburn) covers up the shooting incident and puts top priority on hunting down the killer. It is suggested that orders from the highest echelons of the U.S. military demanded the execution of the killer in order to preserve a working relationship with the Australians. Meanwhile, Aussie Detective Sgts. Adams (Bill Hunter) and Martin (Maurie Fields) are also looking for the murderer, hoping to bring him to justice in an Australian court of law. When Leonski's roommate belatedly turns him in, his attorney gets seriously ill and Major Dannenberg has to take over his defense. There is no doubt the man is mentally unbalanced, as witnessed by his behavior in Melbourne's bars and brothels in the first half of the movie. At the trial, Dannenberg unsuccessfully argues for his client's internment in an asylum for the criminally insane. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Reb Brown, (more)
- 1984
- R
This suspensful drama chronicles the life of a despicable killer who along with his brother, was involved in the slaughter of several Australian journalists in 1975. The film is based on a true story. Both brothers survived the killings. Afterwards, one of them settles down in a small New Zealand town where he leads a peaceful life. His peace is disturbed when his brother comes to call. The visiting brother tries to get him to hit the road again. When not trying to convince him, the restless brother falls for a hooker. She falls for him too. After he dumps her for another, the call girl attempts suicide. Meanwhile he keeps after the pretty urban woman until she is killed in a car crash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chard Hayward, Ivar Kants, (more)
- 1976
Richard Jordan plays Paul, a disillusioned American in search of the meaning of life. After his ex-wife attempts suicide, Paul retreats to Hong Kong. Here he tries to assuage his angst by becoming involved with several local lovelies. Still unsatisfied, Paul leaves the British protectorate, once more trying to find himself. Director Pierre Rissient co-wrote the existentialist script of One Night Stand with Michael White; the film was financed in France, lensed in Hong Kong, and performed in English. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Jordan
A police investigator is forced to rely on the man he's been instructed to apprehend in this cold war thriller. Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer) is a high level negotiator with the British government who is approached by Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), an Australian detective who has been instructed to arrest Quentin in connection with the murder of his first wife 25 years earlier. Quentin calmly asks Malone if he could wait until he completes his work at a diplomatic conference, and Malone agrees; Quentin even allows Malone to stay at his home with his second wife Shelia (Lilli Palmer). Malone's assignment soon proves to be more complicated (and dangerous) than he expected when he has to save Quentin from an assassination attempt. Quentin must protect a fellow diplomat also targeted by gunmen, and Malone learns that Shelia has a deadly secret. The High Commissioner was also released under the title Nobody Runs Forever. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1967
In this drama, based on an Edgar Wallace story, a thief is doing time in prison after a major heist goes awry. Meanwhile, the ringleader, wanting to know where the thief stashed the loot, conspires to spring him. Unfortunately, the thief refuses to be sprung until the mastermind abducts his girl. He then agrees, but then both are captured en route to the loot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
This war-drama centers more on the effects of battle on civilians than it does on the bravery of the fighters as it tells the story of a courageous squadron of Yankee soldiers endeavoring to protect and bring to safety a village full of French civilians whom they saved from German captors following the Allied invasion of Normandy. During the battle to free them, the soldiers also capture a German officer. They then begin heading toward the beach with the civilians so they can go to England. Unfortunately, the beachmaster does not know they are coming and regretfully sends them back. Twice more the squadron and the civilians go back to the beach, but they are still not allowed to go. Things get even worse when the Germans begin bombing the remains of their town and they are forced to find some place to hide until help arrives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, (more)
- 1965
In this British crime drama a small-town detective gets tired of Scotland Yard's constant meddling and takes a leave-of-absence from his regular duties to start his own detective agency. It is there that he solves the puzzling jewelry store heist that caused the death of the owner's wife who worked there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Based on a BBC television program, this underworld drama set in London's Soho district created a different sort of role for star Anthony Newley, normally a performer associated with light musical comedy. Newley is the titular character, the master of ceremonies at a sleazy strip club owned by Gerry (Robert Stephens). Sammy owes a substantial amount of money to a bookie, Fred (Kennth J. Warren), and has only five hours to pay off the debt, but he strikes out with his deli-owner brother Lou (Warren Mitchell). Desperately trying to raise the money before Fred's goons rough him up, Sammy is forced to help a naïve young girl, Patsy (Julia Foster), who shows up to the club ready to strip -- based on Sammy's outrageous claims and promises at an earlier meeting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, Julia Foster, (more)
- 1962
In this romantic comedy, a free-wheeling member of the U.S. Air Force goes AWOL. While traveling, the man and his girlfriend encounter another young couple. Both men are dressed exactly alike and are driving the same kind of bike. When the women climb aboard the wrong bikes, romantic mayhem ensues. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Chakiris, Janette Scott, (more)
- 1961
After a town in Asia Minor is reduced to rubble by an earthquake, an American named Hadley (Peter Dyneley) volunteers to help locate the injured survivors. Also pitching in to help is a mysterious stranger, who after rescuing seven people from certain death perishes himself. When the fingerprints of the unknown Good Samaritan are taken and matched with police records, the authorities are in for quite a shock. This is the first of several One Step Beyond episodes filmed in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Although there'd been "doomsday dramas" before it, Stanley Kramer's On the Beach was considered the first "important" entry in this genre when originally released in 1959. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute, the film is set in the future (1964) when virtually all life on earth has been exterminated by the radioactive residue of a nuclear holocaust. Only Australia has been spared, but it's only a matter of time before everyone Down Under also succumbs to radiation poisoning. With only a short time left on earth, the Australian population reacts in different ways: some go on a nonstop binge of revelry, while others eagerly consume the suicide pills being issued by the government. When the possibility arises that rains have washed the atmosphere clean in the Northern hemisphere, a submarine commander (Gregory Peck) and his men head to San Diego, where faint radio signals have been emanating. The movie's all-star cast includes: Peck as the stalwart sub captain, Ava Gardner as his emotionally disturbed lover, Fred Astaire as a guilt-wracked nuclear scientist, and Anthony Perkins and Donna Anderson as the "just starting out in life" married couple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, (more)
- 1949
The Rugged O'Riordans are a family of Irish immigrants, carving out a life for themselves in Australia's middle country. John O'Malley and Thelma Scott play Matthew and Jane O'Riordan, whose offspring follow family tradition by setting up camp in some of the roughest Down Under terrain ever captured on film. The breathtakingly photographed location scenes provide an impressive backdrop for some of the plot's more contrived passages, not least of which is the standard "two brothers fight over the same girl" routine. One of the brothers is played by Michael Pate, who later enjoyed a lengthy career as a Hollywood character actor, then returned to Australia to inaugurate a prosperous directing career. The Rugged O'Riordans managed to secure American distribution through Universal-International. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Pate, John O'Malley, (more)
